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[NYT] Sony in talks to join a bid to buy Paramount
- Thread starter DinkyDev
- Start date
- News Entertainment
If anything, Paramount+ getting shutdown is gonna have an even higher chance of happening lol
I mean they have a streaming service right now
Do wonder if theres even any benefit to be had in terms of leveraging these IP into games
The rumor for the past year is that Comcast wants to buy WBD after the U.S. election is over.
It's only a rumor, but The Hollywood Reporter thinks there's a decent chance of it happening.
If it happens, they'd put all their TV productions into the service once licenses expired/renegotiated. Got a decent chunk of content across all other subs currently that are hits.
Dunno if it's worth it at this stage but I'd always assumed they'd pick up one of the struggling companies once the arms dealer approach peaked. Kind of do need to own the distribution and it lends some synergy to their other verticals, especially PS.
It's interesting. Sony has some lucrative contracts with other streamers.
So would they let those contracts run out and try to combine their content with Paramounts? Or just fold Paramount Plus and add the Paramount library to their licensing arsenal?
Sony teaming up with Apollo would have implications as well.
I did not have this on my Paramount bingo card, that's for sure.
.
Just call it this:
AOL-Time-Warner-Pepsico-Viacom-Halliburton-Skynet-Toyota-Trader-Joe's
See? Rolls right off the tongue!
True but Sony Picture still isn't some huge movie powerhouse these days. Paramount ain't one either.
And it's not Sony alone. It's Sony and investment firm Apollo together.
There's already a simple solution to this: subscribe to Paramount+ as an Apple TV channel and never open the Paramount+ app again.
Paramount owns TMNT via Nick right? Do they also still own the license to the games or has that been sold off? I'm just dreaming of a TMNT game by insomniac.
In terms of the actual merger if it's going to happen i would rather it be sony over WB but they stopped talks months ago and i wouldn't want it anywhere near disney.
In terms of the actual merger if it's going to happen i would rather it be sony over WB but they stopped talks months ago and i wouldn't want it anywhere near disney.
Has been glaringly the most obvious solution for SPE. Vinciquerra said that if SPE doesn't acquire, they'd end up being acquired. Outbid by both Disney and Comcast on 20th Century Fox assets. Zee merger failed.
AnotherDayAnotherDollar
AnotherDayAnotherDollar
Skydance have an exclusive 30 days to negotiate, but it isn't a lock. The stockholders that aren't Sheri would be screwed in the Skydance deal so they aren't happy.
Nah, Sucker Punch is the better fit. Literally just mix Infamous and Ghost of Tsushima and you're almost there.
I've been wanting a Sucker Punch developed ATLA game since like 2010.
Fucking finally. I've been saying Sony needs to buy Paramount for years. I'll just quote myself:
unclear what Sony's role in all this would actually be, it seems, from Deadline:
The Apollo and Sony deal is reportedly an all-cash one for outstanding stock in Paramount, in total making the studio private through a joint venture per the New York Times. It's not clear how Sony would be involved, if it's merely in management expertise. Our understanding at this point is that Apollo is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Although I would go with the NYT reporting over Deadline.
The Apollo and Sony deal is reportedly an all-cash one for outstanding stock in Paramount, in total making the studio private through a joint venture per the New York Times. It's not clear how Sony would be involved, if it's merely in management expertise. Our understanding at this point is that Apollo is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Although I would go with the NYT reporting over Deadline.
Variety's sources see Sony Group merging Sony Pictures into Paramount, with Sony being the majority owner of the SPE / Paramount entity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Discuss Possible Joint Bid for Paramount Global
Sony Pictures Entertainment is in discussions with Apollo Global Management about teaming up on a joint bid for Paramount Global.
variety.com
Trick is Star Trek IP is technically part of CBS, and Sony isn't allowed to own CBS as structured by law. Not saying they can't get the IP but actual ownership is tricky.
And if the deal requires spinning the stations off, could change it a bit where they could control more of CBS' IPs. Messy.
Variety's sources see Sony Group merging Sony Pictures into Paramount, with Sony being the majority owner of the SPE / Paramount entity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Discuss Possible Joint Bid for Paramount Global
Sony Pictures Entertainment is in discussions with Apollo Global Management about teaming up on a joint bid for Paramount Global.
Yeah I would definitely trust Variety over Deadline
Look, at the end of the day, I just go back to thinking the following things:
- Anyone who's been saying consolidation is bad, but also wanting less streaming services is a hypocrite. And also hoping we can go back to the world of basically one service that was cheap and had everything. I was really, really hoping Paramount could figure out how to fix their problems because they legit have a bunch of things and partnerships that I felt could long term in it's own compete with your Disneys, WBs, Netflixs, ect. But everyone really wanted to have less services. You can't complain about less competition in one area, but then beg for it in another area and not be a hypocrite.
- We're not going back to the world of Cable and Theaters only despite everyone's insistence that it was a better model and we need to go back to it. Just like you're not going to magically convince the majority of the public who want things digital because of ownership. Especially though who aren't as invested in the medium and really want less clutter. There's some things you simply can't make happen just because you insist it's a better system. Sometimes things change for better or worse. Just like I'm sure live theater enthuists probably preached about growing movie theaters, or theaters when it came to TV. Or VHS with recording. Or the various other industries that weren't the arts. Things change whether you like it or not.
- Paramount like it or not is hurting financially. It's not just people at the top jumping into dumb decisions because like it or not, the studios that don't have streaming services are also considering long term options to survive because the industry is changing and what the general public wants is constantly moving. A24 has admitted they need to go into bigger projects to survive long term despite people wanting them to stay indie (and honestly, I've been hoping they would grow more to bring more competition to the big studios. Just like I want MGM to bounce back too. And make up for Fox being gone). If they can't dig out of the whole, one way or another they're vanishing. Unless suddenly we all agree studios can be publicly/government funded, which will never happen for Film/TV/Gaming. Even in a non-capitalist world.
- The only best option being Paramount keeps moving along the way it is without any changes is not going to happen. Or the option of Paramount breaking up back to Viacom and CBS and suddenly both survive is not going to happen. As much as a large amount of people would. There is not going to be a good option with Paramount unless the public suddenly starts increasing Paramount+ profitable and the movies suddenly make way more. (Cable is not suddenly going to rebound hard.)
- It is absolutely possible to say "the best of the options" and mean the best of bad options without cheerleading. And more understanding A) Paramount's situation is probably not going to change and it's not going to be possible for them to run on their own forever between their increasing debt and market demands, B) we lose Paramount and we're down another studio anyway C) For what's required to survive in the industry between increasing technology and general audience demand, it's going to need to be someone who can invest a bit into Paramount. That's not the government.
So without it being a company that's not going to suddenly have more than 50% of the market for streaming or theater, we're going to have to begrudgingly accept:
A) An outside player that barely has a presence in the entertainment industry, but does have the capital to keep Paramount afloat with the new demands of the industry
B) An entertainment that isn't one of the biggest players to avoid a monopoly, but yes, would get bigger and potentially make changes to integrate them that are going to suck.
Both options will have negatives. You all know what they are. But you can acknowledge them and realize the best options are literally not possible. And try to hope for the option that provides the least damage to all parts of Paramount.
I don't know what the best of the worst options is. Skydance would keep another player and not change the number of studios, but obviously parts would be sold off and we don't know what would happen with the parts sold off. Sony could go in a number of directions and we don't know the impact it would have on things like existing partnerships and licensing with other companies that people like. Or if it would result in shutdowns. But I also know Sony would be well aware of what studios and properties shouldn't be neglected, compared to Skydance which I'm not as sure of (ex Nickelodeon). We'll see though I guess.
- Anyone who's been saying consolidation is bad, but also wanting less streaming services is a hypocrite. And also hoping we can go back to the world of basically one service that was cheap and had everything. I was really, really hoping Paramount could figure out how to fix their problems because they legit have a bunch of things and partnerships that I felt could long term in it's own compete with your Disneys, WBs, Netflixs, ect. But everyone really wanted to have less services. You can't complain about less competition in one area, but then beg for it in another area and not be a hypocrite.
- We're not going back to the world of Cable and Theaters only despite everyone's insistence that it was a better model and we need to go back to it. Just like you're not going to magically convince the majority of the public who want things digital because of ownership. Especially though who aren't as invested in the medium and really want less clutter. There's some things you simply can't make happen just because you insist it's a better system. Sometimes things change for better or worse. Just like I'm sure live theater enthuists probably preached about growing movie theaters, or theaters when it came to TV. Or VHS with recording. Or the various other industries that weren't the arts. Things change whether you like it or not.
- Paramount like it or not is hurting financially. It's not just people at the top jumping into dumb decisions because like it or not, the studios that don't have streaming services are also considering long term options to survive because the industry is changing and what the general public wants is constantly moving. A24 has admitted they need to go into bigger projects to survive long term despite people wanting them to stay indie (and honestly, I've been hoping they would grow more to bring more competition to the big studios. Just like I want MGM to bounce back too. And make up for Fox being gone). If they can't dig out of the whole, one way or another they're vanishing. Unless suddenly we all agree studios can be publicly/government funded, which will never happen for Film/TV/Gaming. Even in a non-capitalist world.
- The only best option being Paramount keeps moving along the way it is without any changes is not going to happen. Or the option of Paramount breaking up back to Viacom and CBS and suddenly both survive is not going to happen. As much as a large amount of people would. There is not going to be a good option with Paramount unless the public suddenly starts increasing Paramount+ profitable and the movies suddenly make way more. (Cable is not suddenly going to rebound hard.)
- It is absolutely possible to say "the best of the options" and mean the best of bad options without cheerleading. And more understanding A) Paramount's situation is probably not going to change and it's not going to be possible for them to run on their own forever between their increasing debt and market demands, B) we lose Paramount and we're down another studio anyway C) For what's required to survive in the industry between increasing technology and general audience demand, it's going to need to be someone who can invest a bit into Paramount. That's not the government.
So without it being a company that's not going to suddenly have more than 50% of the market for streaming or theater, we're going to have to begrudgingly accept:
A) An outside player that barely has a presence in the entertainment industry, but does have the capital to keep Paramount afloat with the new demands of the industry
B) An entertainment that isn't one of the biggest players to avoid a monopoly, but yes, would get bigger and potentially make changes to integrate them that are going to suck.
Both options will have negatives. You all know what they are. But you can acknowledge them and realize the best options are literally not possible. And try to hope for the option that provides the least damage to all parts of Paramount.
I don't know what the best of the worst options is. Skydance would keep another player and not change the number of studios, but obviously parts would be sold off and we don't know what would happen with the parts sold off. Sony could go in a number of directions and we don't know the impact it would have on things like existing partnerships and licensing with other companies that people like. Or if it would result in shutdowns. But I also know Sony would be well aware of what studios and properties shouldn't be neglected, compared to Skydance which I'm not as sure of (ex Nickelodeon). We'll see though I guess.
I have faith! Sony must own Star Trek. The prophecy must come true 🥹
Sony and Paramount combined would make a media company capable of standing next to the other conglomerates in the same industry. And of course they would greatly expand their video game movie adaption foot print getting Sonic and possibly other SEGA adaptions they are planning after the success they had with Paramount.
Im pretty sure it is not getting a season 3, no one talks about it at all really...
Im pretty sure it is not getting a season 3, no one talks about it at all really...
I was hoping more of this would happen instead of more streaming platforms. These guys are all racing to the bottom with these things. I think Netflix is the only profitable one?
The model shouldn't be too hard to do, I feel like HBO had it right. Just have 52 hoursish of unique must see TV a year, sprinkle in some back catalogue and cheap bones to certain demographics like kids or reality TV plus your big movies after 6-8 months like was done for Oppenheimer and Barbie.
Like really, you got our money if we tune in once a week for a show, isn't that all you want?
Meh, people say things like this, but Disney didn't buy Fox. Fox sold itself and Disney bought it. Fox was going away regardless and didn't want to be in the business. It's not like Disney wanted more IP and went after theirs. I get Disney is big and people don't like these acquisitions, but you can't force a company like fox to stay in the business if they want out either.
That's assuming everyone has the same tastes though and likes the exact same thing.
Interesting, so it will be like WB Discovery with Columbia, Paramount, CBS and Sony TV under one roof?Variety's sources see Sony Group merging Sony Pictures into Paramount, with Sony being the majority owner of the SPE / Paramount entity.
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Discuss Possible Joint Bid for Paramount Global
Sony Pictures Entertainment is in discussions with Apollo Global Management about teaming up on a joint bid for Paramount Global.
This is sort of why consolidation at a high level like this is so dangerous. When you have a Big Six and two of them merge, the remaining four feel a pressure to also shack up with each other to "remain at scale" and very quickly you go from having a Big Six to having a Big Three. This is exactly what happened with US airlines, with Continental merging with United, US Airways merging with American Airlines, and Delta merging with Northwest all in the span of just a few years.
For literally decades, we had the Big Six major studios. But Disney buying 20th Century upsets the balance of that, and so it's not long after that we start hearing word of NBCUniversal wanting to gobble up Warner Bros. Discovery (as the clunky names indicate, both of those companies are already the products of mega-mergers!) and now Sony Pictures wanting to take over Paramount.
Paramount is already one of the largest media conglomerates in the industry. (Before rebranding to the name of their famous film studio, they were known as ViacomCBS, after all.) Sony Pictures is also part of one of the world's largest media companies. I'm not sure I buy the idea that either of them are getting pushed out and need to "scale up." They're not, like, AMC Networks, or even Lionsgate, where that actually might be a valid concern. (And if either of them did want to scale up, they could always buy one of these smaller players, just like they could have picked up MGM when it was up for sale a few years ago.)
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There's every chance that Paramount's network and streaming business gets sold off separately, and I've said before Sony should bite their hands off for the studio and IP if they can find someone dumb enough to buy the former.
Sony could definitely sell Paramount's library better than they could.
Paramount at this point -
a) goes bust, so there are only four major studios.
b) gets bought by a venture capitalist asset stripper, so there are only four major studios.
c) gets bought by Apple, who sell it in five years time to a, b or d as they have no idea what to do with it.
d) gets bought by another major studio.
Pick one.
That's a lot of IPs to make more GaaS games.
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The Last of Sponge
Microplastic has turned most sea creatures into zombies.
Whats more dangerous is a company like Paramount being sold for parts on the cheap or having its bones picked at by Disney or WBD that are already the only real titans in the industry. And that was the only interest WBD had in its buying Paramount. At least in this scenario with Sony, Apollo, and Paramount acting as one company they'd be a more realistic competitor with their collection of film and TV IPs which *still* wouldn't be as prolific as something like Disney's IP portfolio.
I mean about a decade ago, Sony's film division was sure to be in the same position Paramount is in and was only fended off from hungry buyers due to the PS4 being the console of choice out of the gate. And with theaters not giving the returns we saw pre-pandemic (outside a few super hits) the theater audiences still demand bloated budget movies. So I can see why both Sony and Paramount would want to combine their efforts to remain big movie players in today's economic climate and the size of who they are competing with.
